A FIVE-year-old boy severely burned his foot after stepping on an area of sand which retained the soaring heat of a disposable barbecue.

Jamie Morris, from Devonshire Road, Southport, suffered a third degree burn and was referred to Alder Hey Children’s hospital after attending accident and emergency in Ormskirk.

The youngster, who is a Churchtown primary pupil, is still crawling around his parents’ house a week-and-a-half after the incident on Ainsdale beach.

He is still unable to go to school and went back to the Liverpool- based children’s hospital for a check up yesterday.

Alder Hey’s consultant doctor Sian Falder warned parents of the need for children to wear footwear on the beach this summer.

She told the Visiter last night: "Given the promised warm summer ahead – and the numbers of hazards on our beaches – I would recommend that parents ensure their children wear some protective footwear at all times."

Jamie’s father Ian told the Visiter: "We were playing hide and seek on the beach when it happened.

"It was around 6pm last Monday (June 1) and we’d finished having our barbecue. I moved it to one side so Jamie wouldn't stand on it.

"During the game he started to scream – shouting that his foot was burning and the sand was really hot. I thought, ‘The sand cannot be that hot. Can it?’

"But when I put my hand on it, it was actually roasting hot. I felt guilty that it had happened – it was only five minutes after I moved it.

"We immediately cooled his foot down in the sea and took him to Ormskirk hospital A and E who eventually referred him to Alder Hey burns unit."

"He was in hospital for a couple of nights and he still can’t walk on it. He’s had to stay off school – it’s that bad.

"Parents should be aware of the dangers of what could happen. The message is: don’t put disposable barbecues on the sand."

Medics said Ian’s son was one of many children who sustained similar injuries during last week’s hot weather.

Ian added: "It’s awful to think that you can put a barbecue down and all that is left on the sand is a scalding hot patch which nobody knows of.

"What made it worse was that the picture on the barbecue’s design had a barbecue placed on soft sand.

"That encourages people to put it on sand.

"I was told that some kids had been for treatment for burnt feet after a barbecue was removed from sand only for them to step in heat. The barbecues should warn of the potential danger."

The product’s picture design does show a caution sign about avoiding using flammable fluids and telling buyers not to re-light it, but does not show anything warning of the possibility that heat could be retained in sand.

A spokesman for the British Standards Institution said: "The warning is of a European standard which is mandatory.

"In the UK a committee can pass the public’s comments on to a European committee.

"If a member of the public has an issue they should send them to the BSI and they will consider them."